Baidu: The AI Re-Rating Has Begun

Baidu (BIDU) is transitioning from a legacy search engine to an AI-driven platform, with AI now comprising 52% of General Business revenue. AI Cloud Infrastructure revenue surged 79% y/y, GPU Cloud 184%, and Apollo Go autonomous rides grew 120%, signaling robust AI adoption. Despite negative free cash flow and margin pressure from heavy AI investment, BIDU maintains a strong balance sheet and announced its first dividend and a $5B buyback.